FamilyEducation Blogs

There are literally hundreds, thousands (millions, if you want to get carried away) of reasons why having a kid/having kids is such an amazing, rewarding experience. (The converse is true, too…there are just as many reasons why it’s hard, exhausting and makes you consider things you’d never otherwise consider, but that’s not why we’re here today!)

Parents talk about seeing the world through their kids’ eyes and rediscovering a great sense of wonder. We talk about the joy that comes from teaching our kids new things, or the pride that comes with each new milestone. There are so many laughs. So many adventures. As much as we sometimes yearn for that “life as we used to know it,” it's safe to say that most (all?) parents wouldn’t ever really want to go back to that life.

But, what I really love about parenting – perhaps my favorite thing of all – is the reintroduction of mac & cheese into my life. Mac & cheese is the ultimate comfort food. And (insert your favorite deity here) knows, parenting brings on a daily need for some comfort!

I grew up eating mac & cheese. It wasn’t any of the “gourmet” (almost “good for you”) stuff we have today. It was the super-duper gloppy, extra cheesy, extra fatty stuff. It was heaven. And, while the frequency of eating the stuff dropped off in high school, it certainly comes roaring back in college. It’s fast. It’s cheap. And, damn, it’s good. (Like so many things in college.)

But, for some reason, after college – when we convince ourselves that we’ve entered “the real world” and need to grown up – the mac & cheese intake disappears. Pretty much gone. Every once in a while, I might have had it at a restaurant, but that’s not really mac & cheese. That stuff is more like cheesy pasta. It’s too hoity-toity. That stuff belongs on “Top Chef,” not on my plate.

As soon as you have a kid who can eat solid food,  though? Welcome back to my life, mac & cheese! It’s a beautiful thing. K-Man is a great eater who doesn’t really concentrate on one meal day-after-day, night-after-night. However, on those nights when he says, “I want macos,” I get excited. I know I’ll be making a double batch and joining him in a most comfortable evening!

Mac & cheese just feels like a memory. I don’t really have any specific memories tied to eating it. I just know that it makes me fondly remember childhood, or even college. I remember those long nights of playing video games instead of studying. Ah, such good times. (Turns out I was right – my East Asian Studies degree probably won’t really help me much outside of a sushi restaurant. But…the ability to break a house record of 24-hours of RBI Baseball? Priceless.)

Like most parents, I certainly wouldn’t give up any of the experiences we’ve had with K-Man. He’s the most important part of our day and, even though it’s often earlier in the day than we’d like, we do love the greeting we get each and every morning. Every now and again, though, it’s good to take a ride on a time machine. One bite of mac & cheese and I’m simply transported back to…simplicity.

Better go buy some more.